I'm going to have to repaint my house sooner or later. It is 12 inch press board siding that in general is in good shape. I have to replace a couple pieces on one side that have some rot, but 97% of the house is sound and no paint is chipping or flaking.

To the best of my memory, the paint job was done in the mid 1990's, putting it around 15 years ago. The house was painted a fairly dark green, from looking at color samples on screen, I'd say it was somewhat close to Benjamin Moore true Green. The current paint is severely faded, especially on the southern exposures. The paint used was likely middle of the road, ACE brand or maybe a contractor grade Mautz (regional paint now sold to SW).

I don't know if I want to go with green again, a big part of my decision is how long the color will last before there is severe fading. I had a discussion about this with the guy at the local hardware store (They are a TrueValue that carries the full lines of Zinsser, Benjamin Moore - Including Aura, plus some others I can't remember.)

He said most good paints the house colors in Wisconsin will last about 7 years on the southern exposure. He thought the Aura would last around 10.

I know in general the darker colors are going to be harder to maintain, but are some darker colors more difficult than others to keep from fading? i.e. Does green fade faster than red?

Do you think it is reasonable to expect that a deep color even with Aura will only last about 10 years before fading on a southern exposure?

If that is the case, what kind of time frame could I expect with a lighter color with Aura?

Does the lifetime warranty on Aura apply to the color at all or only to other factors?

How is exterior Aura comparing to Duration in terms of fade resistance?

Thanks very much,

Jamie

DUDE!

07-17-2010 07:11 PM

Jamie, with this post you are sure to hear from the sellers of aluminum siding.
Sorry I couldn't help with your question, this is just what came to mind. :)

housepaintingny

07-17-2010 10:04 PM

It will depend on a few variables, but a quality paint with 100% acrylic binder's will retain the color the longest

ebrown

07-26-2010 01:21 PM

NeverFade Exterior Paint

Hi Jamie,
There is a new paint manufactured by an industrial paint engineering company called NeverFade and it has a 15 year warranty against fading. The only thing is, it must be applied by a contractor...but the warranty includes replacement of the product and labor expences.

The artificially created colorants like Reds, Magentas, and Yellows will fade sooner than "Earth-based" colorants like the Umbers, Red & Yellow-Oxides, Browns & Whites (Titanium-dioxide TiO2).

Lesser-quality paint-lines use lesser-quality colorants often. High-end paints like C2, Aura, & FPE use very good colorants. FPE is absolute top-notch, but pretty spendy!
(You could feed a family of 4 at a restaurant for what a Qt. of C2 High-strength Red colorant costs...)

Overall though, the deep "Artificial" colors will fade faster, relative to lighter colors.
Even with a light Aura, 10 years on a South side is nearing a realistic limit! It WILL look way better than a cheap paint after that time though!!